Did you
know...
David B
(founder of the cult in London) who constantly exhorted anyone and
everyone in earshot to get a sponsor - and “do exactly what your
sponsor tells you” – didn't have one himself!
Extracts:
“David
B's non existent sponsor, or "The Invisible Man" as I call
him. The identity of David's sponsor seemed to change depending on
who he was talking to......he just couldn’t find a sponsor in the
UK who was sufficiently informed or conversant with the Program to be
his sponsor. ( !!!!! ) So, in other words, in all our fair, green
and pleasant land there was not one AA member who was good enough to
sponsor David. He tried and tried and tried but he just could not
find anyone, poor chap! However he did eventually find a man in
America called ........, with whom he talked over the phone to from time
to time ( or so he claimed). This "......." upon later
investigation ( after David's death) turned out to be drinking low
alcohol lager and completely unaware of being anyone's sponsor. Yet
this individual was good enough for David !! You really couldn’t
make it up!
David B
…... on cooking with alcohol:
“David B
used to invite some sponsees/group members to his flat in Fulham for
a meal. It was his practice to cook with alcohol ( using wine in a
coq-au-vin recipe for example). He would say that it gave his food "a
certain extra something". Well it sure did, because even after 2
1/2 hours of cooking at least 5% of the alcohol is still retained
after cooking. I don’t think David was aware of this scientific
fact. I wasn't myself until recently. However, in view of the fact
that alcoholism is partly a mental obsession, I always thought it
was totally inappropriate to present food to recovering alcoholics
which had been cooked with alcohol and expect them to eat it as a
fait accompli. In other words they were put in a position where it
would have been seen as rude to refuse. It is certainly not something
I would do myself. I felt David B was playing around with alcohol and
with other people's sobriety, which David did without a care to the
possible consequences to himself or others.
By the
way, here is a link for further information regarding the retention
of alcohol after cooking
I was
surprised myself to learn about this, as I too always thought that
cooking boiled off the entire alcohol content. It doesn't.”
Roman
Catholicism and the cult:
“The
intrusion of Roman Catholic dogma, practice and moral teaching into
AA and repackaging it to newcomers as if it were AA. The attendance
of David B and his closest circle at the Brompton Oratory Catholic
Church in Kensington, and the close and public relationship of David
C with the Catholic Church. The importing of Catholicism into AA
under the guise of "working the program"....... a young man
…. [was] …. sacked by his Vision sponsor after this sponsor had
suggested he should consider becoming a Catholic and the young man
refused. This young man's experience of AA was completely ruined by
this experience and in spite of many attempts to help him and
reassure him of the real AA message, he eventually left the
fellowship.”
Moreover:
“The
promoting and intrusion of highly contentious and controversial
opinions on many outside issues and presenting them as AA under the
cover of being "spiritual" Including:-
MEDICAL
AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MATTERS - Medications for depression and other
conditions were frowned upon and newcomers were told to come off
medication or they could not proceed with the program. Similarly
newcomers were told to discontinue any therapy or counselling. Also
David C had highly contentious views on psychology, especially about
Sigmund Freud, whom he often derided and rubbished.
RELIGION -
David C "the Icon" said that if you wanted to follow a
religious faith outside of AA you should select a "Western
Faith" i.e. some form of Christianity - and especially
Catholicism. The Icon was particularly scathing about Eastern forms
of religion, philosophy, meditation and spiritual practice. This
prejudice can be clearly seen in his recommended reading list of
Helpful Books at the end of the "Companion to the Big Book"
document (mostly written by David C), which is completely Christian
in outlook and largely Catholic in flavour. Also his patronising and
ignorant view about meditation as not being about seeking "
altered states of consciousness, out-of-body experiences or the like
" - revealed in his "bigbookrecovery" website section
on Step 11.
MORALITY -
sex before marriage, birth control and abortion - all were
forbidden at Vision mirroring the Catholic church's stand on these
issues) David C had skilful and lengthy arguments to justify these
rules, all of which break AA Traditions
POLITICS
AND SOCIETY – [according to] David B …... the best social system
that had ever existed was the Feudal System ( !!!!!! ) The Feudal
System if you recall from school history lessons, is the medieval
social system where the King is the absolute ruler at the top, then
come various strata of Lords, Nobles and Barons beneath him, and the
poor serfs at the bottom ..... need I say more??
ART AND
MUSIC. Modern Art and contemporary music were frowned upon,
especially by the "Icon" who said that modern art and rock
music were "unspiritual" and self-absorbed. ….... a young
musician …. [was] …. told by his Vision sponsor that he could not
play in a professional rock band because rock music was "unspiritual"
and "against God" and therefore against the program. David
C developed a theory which declared that all self-expression in art
and music is "wrong" and that all art and music should be
for the greater glory of "God". (...and which God should be
glorified?? Why, The Icon's God, of course!!)
Misogyny,
homophobia and religious apartheid. David B used to say that women
were somehow "less able to get the message" than men. He
said this as an attempt to rationalise the fact that the Vision
group was so dominated by men, especially young men. This male
domination is one of the hallmarks of the cult groups, even after
David died. [Dave C also subscribed to this view]. Also David B
would say the same thing about gay people that they were somehow less
capable of accepting his wonderful message (perhaps they were simply
as repelled by it as the women were!!). Also there was an incident
after David died when a Jewish member of a Vision group was attracted
to a young lady who was a Catholic. Dave C "the Icon", then
in charge of Vision, advised him to stay clear of this potential
relationship because the two faiths were, in his view, "incompatible"
and there could be "problems" which could lead to
drinking!! I really felt at the time that this would have brought
AA into serious disrepute if, say, the media had got a hold of this
story. The Jewish man eventually left AA. Who could blame him!
David B
made up a rule that each group member should have 2 service
commitments. This was in spite of the fact that David himself did not
have a single service commitment for 10 years. A clear example of
"do what I say and not as I do" (or don't do in David's
case). His reasons for not having a service commitment were, he said,
on account of his illness. Yet he was well enough to command and
control an empire of sponsees that stretched from London to Plymouth,
and from Ireland to the USA !! Also all group consciences were
effectively controlled by David B through the mechanism of
sponsorship and a group Steering committee which he directed. Yet he
wasn't able to wash up a single coffee cup on account of "illness".
Perhaps the "illness" in question was not the one he
thought it was !
David B
ruled that recovering alcoholics cannot become social workers, counsellors, therapists or ministers of religion. This is in
clear contradiction to what is found in the chapter on Tradition 8 in
the 12x12, where such as view is described as "anti-social".
His reasons were that there might be a "conflict of obedience"
or approach between AA and the organisation employing the AA member
as a therapist, priest etc. This is tantamount to saying that AA is
incompatible with the real world. The true reason of course was that
knowledge and education on spiritual or psychological matters would
reveal David B to be the charlatan he was. This was the real
"conflict of obedience" - obedience to David and his
madness.
David also
ruled that no alcoholic can do voluntary work outside 12 step
activity. Again contradicting conference approved literature which
states clearly ( in the book Living Sober) that such activity is
recommended as a possible way of being useful and distracting us from
drinking.
Breaking
confidences: After David sacked a sponsee. he would tell other members details of that person's life which justified him sacking
that person. I felt this was an abuse of trust. Also because of the
hierarchical nature of the Vision, private details about sponsees
were "passed up the chain of command" if a sponsor felt it
was necessary. This happened particularly if the sponsor was
relatively new and not fully conversant with all the many rules and
regulations practised at Vision.
The
horrible cross-sharing and humiliation of visitors and guest speakers
at Vision by members of the Cult. This included, on one occasion,
the cross-sharing of a man with over 40 years sobriety.
The fierce
opposition to any form of regulation regarding personal conduct, How
the cult, led then by David C, vehemently opposed a discussion
document on Personal Behaviour and Conduct which was circulated
around the year 2000 (I cannot now remember the exact year this was
circulated). The brouhaha regarding the dismissal of 2 Board members
including the London Board Member ("American Mary" ) and
how Cult members even considered leaving AA and founding a separate
fellowship. Such is their loyalty to AA. “
Comment:
Welcome to the cult's fascist agenda!
Cheerio
The Fellas
(Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
